By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Mustangs lost an early lead but came back from behind to beat the Carroll Merchants on the road in Carroll, Iowa, topping the Merchants 8-6 at Merchants Ballpark, winning the the middle game of a three game road trip.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with one big hit as Darius Freeman hit a two run home run, driving in Central alum Logan Miller to start the scoring. After a scoreless second inning though, the Merchants scored five unanswered runs to steal the lead from St. Joseph in their stadium.
In the third inning, a double by Fernando Espinal drove in Aiden Eggers, before a single from Gavin Gonzalez brought home Martin Smith, tying up the game, also advancing Espinal to third base, which set up Espinal to score the go ahead run on a wild pitch by Mustangs starting pitcher Ian Dittmer. Carroll extended the lead in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Bradley Soto, scoring Kengri De Los Santo, and pushed ahead even more as Dittmer hit Gonzalez with a pitch with the bases loaded, allowing Eggers to score for a 5-2 lead.
Dittmer settled in after the fourth, holding the Merchants off the board the rest of the way until he was replaced by East Buchanan alum Bronco Whitt who pitched a clean seventh inning for the Mustangs, who went on to take the lead back in the eighth with a big five run inning.
After Miller singled, and stole second base, the bases wound up loaded as the Merchants walked Trevor McCollum and hit Freeman with a pitch. With the bases loaded, Miller scored on an error by pitcher Jackson Gwin, and after a wild pitch from Gwin allowed McCollum and Freeman to move to second and third respectively, another wild pitch brough McCollum home to score, moving Freeman to third base. Easton Phillipe tied up the game with an RBI single, driving in Freeman.
St. Joseph took the lead in the inning after Benton alum Chris Coy singled, and following a double steal by Phillipe and Coy, Northwest Missouri State's Parker Griffith doubled to drive in both runners to give the Mustangs a 7-5 lead. Carroll did cut that lead to one in the bottom half of the inning, as Espinal grounded out to the shortstop Coy, scoring Eggers, but in the ninth the Mustangs added the final run of insurance they needed as Phillipe singled again to score Freeman.
The Mustangs ended the game by turning a triple play.
Whitt earned the win, pitching one inning, giving up one hit and walking one while also striking out one. Jase Johnson notched the save also pitching one inning and giving up a hit while walking one. At the plate, Phillipe was 3-for-5 with a stolen base and two RBI's. Miller was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
The Mustangs are now 26-5 on the season and 21-4 in the MINK League. They wrap up the road trip tomorrow in Jefferson City, taking on the Jefferson City Renegades before an off day on Wednesday. First pitch is at 7pm.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.